New job! Pretty scared!

[Douglas]

I'm about to re-enter the public workforce - that is, to go to an office every day where there are co-workers. For the past four years, I have worked in a solitary office.

I'm pretty apprehensive about it! I've been thru lots of med experimentation, trying to prepare for this day, and still am not quite there!

I feel more skittish than I did when I first started work, out of college!

[tridlette]

Like Barry's signature line says...

YOU CAN DO IT!

When things start to feel overwhelming, remind those around you that every one of them had to LEARN the job before they could DO the job. Even McDonald's trains their new employees before they throw them to the wolves.

Keep yourself organized from the beginning. From DAY ONE, start taking notes of the DAILY grinds, the WEEKLY grinds, the MONTHLY grinds. Make yourself file folders in your desk that have those notes. First thing every day, check the files to see what MUST be done first.

Having worked in the 9-1-1 business, I can tell you that when things seem overwhelming and emergent, you will get MUCH MORE ACCOMPLISHED by slowing down and planning your next 3 moves. When the poo poo is hitting the oscillator, take a deep breath and THINK before you act. It never fails to plan first.


'STAR"
stop
think
act
review

That is how to make it through every detail in life. I am now med free, and homeschooling. When life gets to be too much, I have to MAKE MY LIST. I love my MICROSOFT OUTLOOK on my computer. If you have never used it before, try it out. It is my life line, my nagging alarm clock, my to do list, my "don't leave home without it" checklist.

Let us know how it is going, and what we can do to keep you on top of things until you get your new schedule worked out.

I will send you daily reminders if that is what you need. I'll just add you to my OUTLOOK "to do list" page!

Good luck and prayers!

Laurie

[HooDunnit]

Good luck Douglas. I'm sure that this must be more than disconcerting for you. They say that every crisis is also a opportunity, but hindsight is more comforting than foresight. I have been working fulltime here in my bookstore for the last 30 years, and partime here for 15 years prior to that. But in Jan., I will be retired at only age 53. So I am in crisis too, in a way. I suppose that I will be roaming the streets looking for aluminum cans in all the waster receptacles. A guy has to have something to do.

[Douglas]

Well, I have now sat in my new chair for seven days. Correction, 5 days, for the past few days I've had the flu. But the results are both good and bad - good in that I love the work and the people, bad in that I have no sense yet of whether or not I can sustain the level of presence and function that it will require. The stress is not inconsiderable and the work is demanding.

I really want to succeed at this! I still have high hopes. And now that I've had a taste of it, I really want to make it work.

I am continuing my writing tasks on the side, however, keeping that work alive so that it will still be there if I fail.

Thanks to all for encouraging words!

[rosyred45]

Hope you feel better Douglas, so the jobs going pretty good so far?

One day at a time, one day at a time.......you'll get it, don't worry

[Douglas]

I'VE REACHED 1 MONTH.


Been at this new job one month now, back in a workplace every day, working 10-12 hr days, surrounded by people (well, not so many, I guess - small company!) ... and it has been terrifying and rewarding and really educational.

I don't know if I'm going to make it, though.

I've had many brown-outs, the work is very complex, I've made embarrassing mistakes in front of others. Holistically, I've absorbed the new job pretty well and find it exciting and challenging, but in execution, I just don't function like everyone else. I'm on ProVigil right now and keep Strattera in my pocket for really bad days - but I guess I'm just too old for the meds to change me much!

I come home every night exhausted. But I'm glad I did this. I have to KNOW if I can still contribute in a group.

[HooDunnit]

I wonder what a brown-out is? lol

[Sorka]

Douglas
How can you just keep Strattera in your pocket for bad days??]

It's not a short acting drug.. its a build up drug! I could see you having Ritalin or adderal or concerta for that purpose but I sure don't see how Strattera would be useful in that way..

Perhaps you need to reconcider?
And perhaps either taking the Strat every day or having a different option for bad days would be more help to you.

Denise

[rosyred45]

Well, glad to see that you lasted this long, seriously, I have seen people come and go in as little as 3 days at some jobs.

Can't help you with the meds though, sorry.

[Douglas]

Brown-out: a brief period wherein the electricity that powers the brain runs short ...

[HooDunnit]

I read this from electronics:

"Brown-out .... What is it?
Brown-out is a condition of lower than normal power line voltage being supplied by your local utility or generating equipment. This condition may be short term (minutes to hours) or long term (1/2 day or more). A power line voltage reduction of 8 - 12% is usually considered a Brown-out."

So with respect to the mind, I suppose it might mean reduced mental power. I've never heard that one before. Reduced mental power. I wonder how a person would be able to measure that other than subjective reports.

[Douglas]

I suspect that subjective report is all there is to measure it by, sure enough, but it's one of those things where "you know it when you see it."

I've been having "brown-outs" since high school. They are more than just mid-afternoon fatigue or moments of ditziness. In the midst of a "brown-out," I can't remember what I was doing five minutes ago, I can't type well, I can't remember my own phone number. If they happen when I'm in conversation with someone, or on the phone, or in a meeting, I suddenly find myself totally lost and all I can do (coping strategy-wise) is feign an intentional change of subject.

My new work is, unfortunately, piled on top of my old work because I dare not let the old work lapse, in case the new work fails and I need to rely upon the old work. The sheer burden of the effort required is almost overwhelming in itself. I am working 6 and sometimes 7 days a week, 70+ hrs a week, and it is draining me completely.

But I can't tell you how incredible it feels, after all these years, to accomplish professional tasks that I would have thought impossible only a year ago. I have managed to do things I could never do before. I am getting along well in the workplace with my new colleagues, not just passably. I look forward to each new day. The challenge is exciting to me. I am forced to learn new things and try new ways. I thought my brain would no longer cooperate in that kind of effort. I am so relieved to find I was wrong!

It has been eons since I felt this way.

[rosyred45]

How ya making out Douglas?